Palestinian teenager killed in Israeli airstrike

November 6, 2006

A Palestinian teenager was killed and seven others, including six children, injured in an Israeli airstrike near a school in the town of Beit Lahiya, according to Dr. Muawiya Hassanin, a local emergency services official.

Israeli military officials said that the strike targeted militants who were retrieving a device used to fire missiles. Israel's incursions into northern Gaza, which are aimed at curbing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants, have killed over 50 people over the last six days.

Friday saw 17 killings, including the gunning down of two women outside a mosque in Beit Hanoun. At least seven people, including a 12-year-old girl were killed by Israeli action on Saturday, and three others yesterday.

The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert denied that his country was planning to re-occupy Gaza, and said that the offensive is aimed at stopping rockets from being fired into Israel by Hamas militants.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has termed the incidents "massacres" and has called for the UN Security Council to discuss the issue.

Israeli troops have regularly made incursions into Gaza following the capture of Gilad Shalit in June this year.